[Coco] [Color Computer] Another flaky question: RAM "snapshot" device

[Robert Gault]

David Bush wrote:
> I have several CoCo programs which, as far as I know,
> exist only on my 5.25" floppies: Pyramix, The Source,
> Demon Seed, Sinistaar.
> 
> I purchased each of these legally. Their copy protection
> schemes are in the long run potentially damaging, both
> to the diskettes and the diskette drive. Demon Seed in
> particular is quite a drive thrasher.
> 
> I would like to be able to disassemble and modify these
> programs so they can run off my hard drive. To that end,
> I have in mind a hardware device which would work as
> follows: I load and run the software. While it is
> running, I push a button, and the CPU receives a
> non-maskable interrupt. The address of the NMI routine
> is also changed, so control is transferred to another
> program while the copy-protected program is still
> sitting in RAM. I could then transfer RAM to a disk file
> to examine and disassemble at my leisure.
> 
> Does this seem feasible? Is there a simpler solution?
> Thanks!
> 
> BTW there is a bug in Demon Seed which crops up if you
> attain the boss ship level (fifth level) for the second
> (or maybe third) time. Sometimes it works, and sometimes
> the program crashes the moment the boss level starts.
> Does anyone have a patch?
> 
> 

I don't see much hope of this method working. The best approach is to 
disassemble the games so that copy protection can be bypassed. That's 
assuming the authors have not released unprotected versions.
Of course you should always see if someone else has done the work. :)
Pyramix
http://coco.clubltdstudios.com/downunder/RSDOS/Briang/Briang/

Sinistaar
http://coco.clubltdstudios.com/downunder/RSDOS/Sundog-Games/Sundog/
http://goyim.dyndns.org:8080/coco/Games/Sinistaar%20(coco%203)/

Can't find Demon Seed. Not sure about The Source, is that a game or 
disassemble?